


The Animorph Anthology

by JustAnotherGhostwriter



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Cassie's parents make a slight appearance, F/M, Gen, Tom has a cameo, Tw: Animorphs, Visser Three is involved too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-25
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-21 07:16:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 13,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/897427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherGhostwriter/pseuds/JustAnotherGhostwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A number of stand-alone drabbles written for the lovely participants of this year's Animorphs Christmas in July over on Tumblr. The drabbles include romance, angst, my terrible attempts at normal human humour and a few AUs. Any warnings that may apply will be marked at the start of the respective drabble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lightbringer34 – “Jake talks to Visser Three”

He finally had the leader of Earth’s pitiful resistance in his clutches. He could feel the heartbeat slowing, even as useless claws attempted to loosen his hold. The fool was in that pitiful _tiger_ morph again; when Earth belonged to him he’d be sure to wipe that animal out first, just so he’d never again have to stare at orange and black stripes that had become synonymous with hate over the past three years. Make no mistake; the _human_ had never been his foe. Just an annoyance that was finally being taken out as slowly and painfully as he pleased.

 

{You have more troops today} he observed privately. The battle was insignificant compared to the utter ecstasy he felt as the tiger blood washed over him. {You recruited more troops so there would be distractions to _die_ for you. I must say, I’m almost impressed.}

 

The tiger body was struggling, but it was slowing. Victory was close and washed in the scent of blood that would grow stronger once he let his attention drift to the rest of the battle.

 

{Six of us have managed to thwart you for years, Visser _Three_. I’d start thinking about your odds now that there are more who oppose you.}

 

He kept his laugh in private thought-speak too; this was between him and the pile of _meat_ who had caused him so much trouble due to nothing but the luck that was running out like his breath. {Don’t try and pretend your decision was noble, _Jake_. You’re just like me.}

 

The mental torture he expected his words to wrought on the _human_ did not come. For a moment he thought the twisted sound in his head was the howl of despair or tortured realization that he craved but then he loosened his grip so the tiger could have breath enough to die screaming and he realized what it really was that he was hearing. Laughter. Bitter, yes, but not despairing. For the first time the vision of how the battle would end faltered.

 

{Of course I’m just like you,} the quiet, emotionless reply came. The tiger was struggling again. {How else was I supposed to get into your head enough to know how to defeat you? I’m no better than you Yeerks. Not any more. But you know what? That’s just how we’re going to defeat you pathetic, worthless _slugs_.}

 

He wants to snarl a reply but there is suddenly pain and he’s no longer holding his quarry. His arm had been cut by one of the Hork-Bajiir that stood around him, now nervous as he bellowed his rage and disbelief for them to hear. He’d kill _every single one of them_ for their treachery! He’d-

 

{You see?} He hadn’t felt true fear in years; if anybody asked, the feeling was as foreign to him as compassion. But something very _like_ fear – something cold and solid – slivered its way into his bones at the tone of voice the filthy, bloody, dying human used. It was the same quiet, dangerous, triumphant, fearless tone he used when he was lording his power over his subordinates. {Even some of your troops obey _me_ now.}

 

He melted the solid ball of almost-fear with his hatred and vowed that this battle would be their very last.


	2. Demenior – “That time ____ laughed so hard pop came out their nose and it wasn’t Marco”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are a goddess to this fandom and I'm so sorry you had to get my awful humour that nobody else ever finds funny as your gift.

“Cassie? Where _are_ you?”

 

It was inevitable, really, that they’d finally get caught acquiring one of the animals in her barn. Tobias was an excellent lookout but when he was down on the floor with his talons on a tranced-out raccoon… She gave an alarmed look at a fully Andalite Ax just before Jake hissed orders and shoved the other five and the injured raccoon into an empty stall.

 

Cassie’s mom entered the barn a moment later, and frowned at the panic on her daughter’s face. “What are you doing?”

 

“Uh… We were just… um…”

 

Her mother’s frown deepened. “We?”

 

Cassie’s mouth opened but no sound came out, panic and shame at her own stupidity making her scramble. Jake suddenly appeared from the stall, brushing straw from his biking shorts.

 

 **“** Hi, Missus-”

 

“Jake!” Her mother cried in delight, the frown disappearing. “I haven’t seen you around in ages!” She gave Cassie a sly look complete with wiggling eyebrows and Cassie felt herself blushing in utter mortification.

 

“Uh… yeah… I was just… biking… and uh… I stopped around to say hello to Cassie. She was just showing me-”

 

Michelle smiled even brighter. “Why don’t you stay for lunch?” She was using that coy voice of hers that made Cassie’s insides coil in horror. The same voice she used every time she went on about how _cute_ Jake was and how she should invite him around _more often_. Jake tried to protest, but her mother wouldn’t hear him out. As they left the barn Jake made some motions behind his back to those still hidden in the stall and then dutifully followed Cassie inside and sat to her right at the table.

 

Cassie nodded and hmmed in all the right places through her father’s story, but her thoughts were on her friends in the barn. Jake, she could tell, was also focused on the mission they were _supposed_ to be on, even though he went through the motions as well as she did. Suddenly realizing she could get caught staring at Jake, Cassie looked quickly out the window.

 

Her heart seemed to stop instantly.

 

The injured raccoon had escaped and was trying to make a bid for freedom across her yard. Marco, covered in straw and something sticky she could not identify, was charging after it, waving his arms around like a lunatic. Marco turned and she caught sight of Tobias, who was doing a sort of flap-hop on the ground, trying to sink his talons into the animal without hurting it further. Rachel tore into view, scratched and bloody and screaming things Cassie thankfully couldn’t hear. She was tossing the pair of two-hundred dollar wedges she’d dragged Cassie to the mall to buy an hour ago at the raccoon as though they were grenades. Tobias had to do a sort of roll in the dirt to avoid being hit by one. And then Ax galloped around the corner, careening out of control on his human legs, wearing the dress her mother had hung on the washing line that morning. It was still dripping wet and kept tripping him up as he charged toward the raccoon, trashcan lid in hand.

 

Cassie inhaled sharply and looked at once back to the table, clutching at her soda so she could hide in the glass as she took a sip. The urge to burst out laughing was almost uncontrollable, but if her parents were to turn around and look outside now… She picked up her soda and took what she hoped would be a calming sip, looking pointedly away from the window. Unfortunately, doing so meant she looked straight at Jake. The expression that was on his face as he gaped at the scene taking place outside sent her over the edge completely.

 

There was suddenly pop pouring from her mouth and her nose and it _burned_ so badly but she couldn’t stop laughing. Choking and gasping for breath with the front of her shirt now _dripping_ , Cassie glanced at her parents to find them staring at her in utter shock.

 

“I’m sorry,” she gasped to the table at large. “I’m sorry, I just… uh… I just suddenly remembered a joke I heard on the radio this morning…” She heard Jake inhale sharply beside her and guessed outside was not going too well. She choked down another giggle, wondering if they’d be able to make it through lunch without Jake rushing off outside or her choking to death. The prognosis didn’t look too good.


	3. Rattyjol – “Historical AU”

“You have all gone mad. Witchcraft has befallen you and you have all _gone mad_.”

 

Normally, he would not dare to point at his best friend as he was currently doing, but he felt right then that the situation warranted it. His eyes flickered in panic from Jake to the others standing in the room, glossing quickly over the last in the line so he could continue pretending the _thing_ did not exist.

 

“Marco, hold your tongue,” Rachel snapped at him, but for once Marco would not obey her.

 

“You are talking madness! Absolute madness! Jake, I implore you to _think_ about what you are saying. _Think_ and you will know that some wretched sorcerer placed something in our food and we all had visions. But they have _passed_ now and so I implore you-”

 

“Passed?” Rachel scoffed haughtily. “Then what make you of our visitor in the corner, Marco? Is he still just a vision?”

 

Involuntarily, Marco’s eyes landed on the strange blue beast, who had two of its eyes turned toward the door of the barn they currently stood in. Marco winced violently and shook his head wildly.

 

“Witchcraft, my lady! More witchcraft! And we are simply-”

 

{I am not some magic monster!} the blue _thing_ cried at once, affronted. {I am an _Andalite_ , human, and just because your intelligence and your technology is _so_ inferior to my own does not-}

 

“Peace, all of you!” Marco’s retort died on his lips at Jake’s command. Every eye turned to him, but he was looking at his best friend. “Marco, even if it is witchcraft as you say, it does not change much. There is still an army threatening our country and our king, and we must-”

 

“Must _what_ , exactly, Jake?” He was too worked up to care about insolence and correct terms and punishment. “Must we go to the king and tell him to ready his army? Against _what_ , my lord? We were told people in the very _court_ are… _corrupted_. How are we to convince _anybody_ that we are anything but suffering from insanity? Pray tell _look_ at us. A squire who cannot pass into knighthood,” – Jake winced deeply and Marco felt ashamed for a moment – “his cousin who has already been marked as touched by the evil spirits for her talk of violence and joining in on campaigns, their servants” – he gestured to Cassie and himself – “a _bastard_ who does not rightly belong to this country and _a blue monster_. We are doomed in our quest of finding assistance!”

 

“Then we shall fight them ourselves!” Rachel cried hotly. “We were told we have powers to do so, were we not? We shall use them!”

 

“Even if you are speaking sanity, my lady, you are _talking of using sorcery_. We shall be _burned_ before we even begin!”

 

“Marco.” Jake was looking at him. “My brother… I cannot ignore…” Marco tried to protest again but Jake held up a firm hand. “I release you from my service for this,” he said calmly. “You are bound by no law to accompany me. But I _must_ do this.”

 

“I follow you with loyalty and valor, cousin,” Rachel said at once, glancing at Cassie only after Jake did.

 

Cassie did not lower her eyes respectfully as she usually did when looking at anybody except Rachel, who had told her off for the action years ago. “My lady,” she said to Rachel, “I was sworn to serve you until I die. I shall keep that promise even now.” She glanced at Jake and then blushed, looking away. “If I may, my lord Jacob,” she added.

 

Jake smiled. “It is your choice, Cassandra. As it is yours, Tobias,” he said, looking to the stranger who stood next to the blue monster without fear.

 

“I fight for you,” he said at once.

 

Jake shook his head. “ _With_ me. I am not your commander.”

 

“You will have to be,” Tobias insisted quietly. “We need one. And you, Jake, are the one to lead us to victory.”

 

Jake started to protest, but Marco felt he’d held his tongue for too long and groaned out loud.

 

“Oh, you are a wicked master. Of course I shall have to follow you.” Jake gave him an amused look as he glared. “ _One_ battle. We save your brother, and then I am going back to washing your breeches for the rest of my life.”

 

“You hate washing breeches,” Jake said dryly.

 

“Yes, but at least doing that will mean that I die old and miserable instead of young and terrified.”

 

Jake rolled his eyes and turned to the blue… well, _Andelite_. “We shall fight for you, friend.”

 

{No. Tobias is right. You are our leader, Prince Jake. I will fight by your side and by your order.}

 

“Oh, hark, now he is a _prince_!” Marco threw up his hands. “This is getting more preposterous by the second.”

 

Everybody ignored him. “So…” Jake glanced around. “To war, then?”

 

“Yes, cousin. To war.”


	4. Nein-Lives – “Rachel Lives”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously an AU. (Also SERIOUSLY over the word count but shhh).

Everybody else on the planet was celebrating. Fireworks exploded in the sky as people ran around the streets calling or dancing or hugging random strangers. But through the crowds pushed a girl wearing a leotard and blood and rage, not anywhere close to being in the mood to celebrate.

 

They’d _left her behind_. She’d been the most scared she’d ever been in her entire life, facing foes that towered above her while her dead cousin lay at her feet and the next thing she knew she was waking up to find herself being _dragged_ about by the polar bear who had attacked her, finding out that the Yeerk who had saved her was part of the resistance. She’d thanked him and had gone on the lookout for her friends, expecting to help them finish the battle in glory and fire.

 

She found out she’d been taken back down to Earth, that the battle was over and that her _friends_ had all vanished. Just gone. They’d left her behind to be dragged out by a Yeerk who was now a _nothlit_ because her rescue had taken so long.

 

Rachel was not pleased, to put it mildly.

 

The Yeerk had had enough sense to somehow get Rachel back to her hometown, and so although the walk was a long one it was not nearly as long as it could have been. The forest was dark and thick around her, adding to her wounds as she fought with the undergrowth on the way to the Hork-Bajiir Valley. It would have been much easier and much quicker if she’d morphed and _flown_ there, but Rachel was too angry to even consider morphing.

 

At least, she was angry enough to ignore the real emotions that made her resist even the thought of morphing. The truth was, she felt sick if she thought about changing into something other than human. Sick and overwhelmed with fear and guilt and _oh fuck_ she could still remember the taste of Tom’s body in her mouth and how it had felt to _kill her own cousin_ … She was not morphing. She was too scared she’d lose herself the moment she lost her human skin.

 

Instead of dwelling on these thoughts, she stoked the anger and betrayal in her heart, giving herself strength to march right up to the Hork-Bajiir guard who leapt out at her and demand she be let through. The guard recognized her, but seemed utterly bewildered that she was _there_. Rachel didn’t pick up on this – didn’t put two and two together – until she entered the Valley and found that she’d been wrong: she wasn’t the only one in the world not celebrating.

 

For a long moment, nobody noticed her. The gathering of people and Hork-Bajiir were huddled protectively around her mother and sisters. Jordan and Sara were wailing and her mother was trying to choke back tears unsuccessfully. Behind her, Cassie was sobbing also, being held by her mother but seemingly gaining no comfort. And then the guard announced her and eyes turned to her frozen form and all hell broke loose.

 

Somehow, Marco was the first to reach her and pull her into a suffocating hug. He was gabbling unintelligent things into her hair and she’d _never_ been more pleased to see him. Realization was beginning to hit, and she didn’t like what it was telling her. Marco was pulled away by her distraught mother and Rachel spent the next ten minutes comforting her family. Cassie was next, holding her close and trying not to sob and Rachel patted her soothingly and told her, gently, to shut up and stop crying. As soon as Cassie let go an Osprey and a Red-Tail landed on the ground nearby.

 

She’d never seen Tobias morph that fast.

 

He staggered up to her as though drunk, reaching out with wide eyes to touch her face. “You’re dead,” he whispered hoarsely.

 

“Not yet,” she whispered back.

 

He kissed her so fiercely the world spun and all she could do to keep herself grounded was dig her fingers into his hair and melt into him. They broke for air and he was crying again, as he had on the Pool Ship. She pulled him close and kissed the tears away, promising things she knew she couldn’t keep but _wanted_ to. She’d escaped death once, after all.

 

During the kiss, Ax had morphed human and he wrapped her in an awkward hug too, starting a sentence about nine times before giving up and just letting her feel his relief and joy. Her aunt and uncle hugged her next, Ax but their arms were not welcoming. They were grieving. Because she had come back but their son…

 

“Where’s Jake?” she asked the group, a sudden clawing in her chest making her breathing hitch. There was no anger to keep the other feelings at bay any more, after all.

 

She was led to a clearing a little away and it didn’t take her long to spot her cousin, sitting curled in a ball on the ground, watching the absolute blackness of the night. She said his name and he flinched but did not turn, as though he’d looked for a Rachel that was not there too many times already. He couldn’t deny that her slap to his face wasn’t real. For a moment he simply stared up at her and then he was pulling her down roughly, wrapping himself completely around her and saying her name, over and over, into her hair. She was afraid he would cry too; a sight she hadn’t seen since they were eight years old. She had nothing left in her that could comfort her cousin; she’d given it all away in the Valley.

 

But Jake did not break down. Her name turned to comforting whispers, telling her that it was okay. She forgot that Cassie wasn’t the only one who understood people. She forgot how much Jake and her were alike – of course he’d understand what she was feeling. Rachel broke down, howling and sobbing and clutching at Jake as he pulled her even closer, telling her it was all right and they’d make it, somehow and everything was _fine_ because she was _alive_ …

 

Once more, Rachel let Jake’s word be law.

 


	5. Derinthemadscientist – “Animorph(s) and their family(s)”

“What’s the big deal? It’s just a stupid little kid’s toy.”

 

There was a hint of scorning laughter in Tom’s voice as he brushed away his little brother’s shouted accusation. Jake was left staring at his brother’s slowly retreating back, clutching his newest and most prized edition to his Star Trek battle fleet collection tightly in his hands. He’d wanted it _all year_ and in his letter to Santa he’d made it clear he wanted nothing else. After he’d found it wrapped under the tree he’d treated it like precious gold, always carrying it carefully and packing it away on the special shelf of his closet.

 

Until Marco had run into his house earlier that afternoon, shouting about a comic book signing and that Jake had to come _now_ because his mom was in the car and she’d take them to the mall… Jake had left the spaceship on the dining room table, whole and completely untainted. He’d come back to find one of Tom’s basketballs on top of it. And now that he was bringing his complaint to Tom, expecting an apology at the very least but hoping that his big brother, who could do _everything_ , would have a way to fix it.

 

But Tom wasn’t interested in so much as acknowledging he’d done something wrong, let alone helping Jake figure out a way to repair his crippled ship. Usually, Jake only fought with Tom when Tom started it and he needed to defend himself from his brother’s wedgies and noogies and other forms of torture. Usually, he’d only yell at Tom until Tom got mad and came after him, at which point he’d lock himself in the bathroom to escape his brother’s wrath. Tom was, after all, bigger than him.

 

But this time, Jake couldn’t help but remember something his dad had told his brother, once. “ _One day, Jake’s going to fight back, Tom. Then you’ll have something coming to you_.” Tom had his headphones on so Jake took a few steps forward, not sure he believed that he was really just going closer so his brother would hear him when he yelled. And then, inexplicably, his walking turned more cautious, like he was sneaking up behind his brother instead of walking toward him. The damaged spaceship fell from his hands and he crouched forward, tensing the muscles in his legs and wishing his heart wasn’t beating so fast in fear.

 

Tom knew how much he loved that spaceship. And he hadn’t even taken the basketball away. He hadn’t even apologized. _“One day, Jake’s going to fight back.”_

He leapt at his brother and tackled him to the ground, wrapping his legs and arms around his torso like Tom had done to him so many times before. Tom, yelling already, tried to fight back but Jake was _mad_ and fueled by something he’d much later know as adrenalin. The Berenson brothers wrestled viciously for a long time before Jake suddenly dug his knee into Tom’s stomach, winding him. Taking his chance, Jake pinned Tom down and pressed down on Tom’s throat with his arm to keep him still.

 

“Say sorry!” he spat, tasting blood and not really caring right then. “You can’t keep being such a bully! You _broke it_. Say sorry!”

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, okay? Jeesh, Jake…!”

 

For another moment neither of them moved, then Jake sniffed wetly and rolled away, clambering to his feet and stomping back toward his ship. Without looking around he marched to his room and then sat on his bed and looked at his ship forlornly, trying very hard not to cry.

 

“Go away,” he told the figure in the doorway.

 

Tom didn’t move for a moment, then he came in and sat beside his brother on the bed, staring down at the ship in Jake’s hands. “Was that the one you got for Christmas?” Jake stubbornly didn’t answer and there was a long silence. “What if I help you buy a new one?” Tom laughed at the look his little brother gave him. “I’m not _lying_ , stupid.”

 

“Okay. Halvies,” Jake agreed after another pause.

 

Tom was all of a sudden wiping at the corner of Jake’s face. His fingers came away red. “I really am sorry.”

 

“I know. It’s okay.” He fiddled with his toy. “Sorry I…”

 

Tom snorted. “You’re a wild one, you are. Like a lion.” He smirked and suddenly grabbed Jake in a headlock, ruffling his hair mercilessly. “But I’m still stronger, Midget. Don’t you ever think you can beat me.”

  
“Lay off!” Jake was laughing.

 

“Make me.”

 

Round two started, but this time it was all in the name of fun.


	6. Askmynameismarco – “Bloody conflict and self doubt”

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” – Earnest Hemmingway.

 

Rachel was dripping with blood, as usual. Most of it was blood from the victims she’d ripped and torn open but there was enough of her own mattering her fur from the scratches in her muzzle and her torn-open flank. Despite the pain and the amount of blood she was losing, she knew she’d been lucky; the battle that was raging around her was one of the most disastrous they’d ever been in.

 

Somewhere to her right a wolf howled in agony and Rachel’s insides contracted as she added her scream to those bounding along her skull. Jake’s voice was not among them; Marco had dragged the mostly-dead tiger outside to safety so Jake could demoprh and her cousin had not yet reentered the fray. A Taxxon, no doubt attracted by the scent of her blood, reared suddenly to her right. She roared and gutted it with her teeth, making sure she ripped through enough flesh to keep any of its comrades in a frenzy for a while. She tossed the body as far away as she could and tried to see what was happening to her friends.

 

They were lost from her in smoke and towering Hork-Bajiir, but she could hear Tobias screaming as he dove and raked and thought she could make out the sound of Ax’s tailblade nearby. They were close, but every one of them was absorbed in their own battle and they could not help her. As soon as she realized how alone she was, the railway cart groaned and moved forward a few inches, pulled by the gravity that the gaping hole possessed. Rachel roared in agony as the chains wrapped around her torso and neck pulled her along with the cart. Panting and snarling, she dug all four of her appendages into the ground, pulling the cart to a halt.

 

She would not be able to hang on for much longer. The tracks were blown to hell and the train’s engine was still burning with a mighty blaze somewhere behind her. This railway cart was determined to fall into the chasm created where railway tracks had once been, but she _could not_ let that happen. Her feet slipped and she roared again as the chains snapped one of her ribs. This time, her scrabbling only slowed the cart down and even when she threw all her weight forward she could not pull the cart back. She was being suffocated and dragged to her doom while around her the world burned and her friends screamed…

 

{Rachel!} Jake’s voice barked loud and clear in her mind. {Get out! We’re retreating.}

 

{Jake-!}

 

{Let it go,} he ordered firmly. There was something else in his voice, but she could not stand to hear it so she focused only on the calm command. {Let it go and run.}

 

It was a struggle worming her way out of the chains, but she managed it in her fear and in the desperate horror that was filling her mind as she realized exactly what she was doing. The chains caught on her leg and she was nearly dragged down with the careening cart, as though it was desperate to punish her for her sins. She ripped herself free in powerful desperation and limped away on her three remaining legs, letting the shock of bloodloss close her hearing down in relief.

 

She met the others and demorphed, trying not to notice how Cassie was crying. She felt dead inside, and somehow some of the blood stayed clinging to her hands even as she was human. She could have pulled that cart up. If she hadn’t been distracted… If she hadn’t spent so much energy ripping the Taxxon to shreds… She’d just hated it _so much_ … She found Jake’s eyes.

 

“How many people were in that train cart?” she asked him softly, her voice breaking. _How many people did I kill_?

 

He looked at her with an old man’s eyes. “Don’t ask that, Rachel.”

 

She morphed to eagle without another word, even though there was a twisted _need_ inside of her to know how much evil she’d done that day. She didn’t ask because it had been Jake’s order. He’d been the one to figure out there were still people trapped in the first place. He’d been the one to order her to keep the cart from going down. He knew _exactly_ what he’d been saying when he’d saved her.

 

 She didn’t want to know if he thought he’d made the right decision.

 

**  
**


	7. Vikingrayray – “Aximili learning about human culture”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again: I am not funny. I apologise for forgetting this fact while writing this.

{I do not understand. Why do you give gifts to a person on the day of his or her birth? Should you not be congratulating the parents?}

 

“The gifts are all part of the celebration, Ax,” Jake explained patiently.

 

“It’s sort of a way of saying… This is a token from me to you to say I’m very glad you’re alive,” Cassie chimed in, folding up the wrapping paper that had been recently been the focus of Ax’s intense scrutiny.

 

{Oh…} He was silent for a moment as Rachel picked confetti out of her hair and Marco tried to steal one of the chocolates from the box. {Then…} He placed a hand solemnly on Cassie’s shoulder. {I am very glad you are alive, Cassie. I am sorry I have brought you no gift. Or party. Or exploding glitter paper. Or cake. Or-}

 

“Thanks, Ax,” she interrupted quickly, touching his hand. “It’s really just the thought that counts.”

 

This, however, just seemed to intensify his confusion. {But if that is all that counts, then why are there demanding lists?}

 

“They’re wish lists, man.” It was Marco’s turn. “Just a list of things you really want so that people know more-or-less what to get you so they don’t get you junk you don’t need.”

 

{But if all one requires is a thought,} Ax started insistently.

 

{Humans are mostly very materialistic,} Tobias broke in wisely. Rachel’s lips thinned at the way he was speaking as though he was not human, but nobody commented. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Tobias had probably never received too many birthday gifts. {So most of them want the thought expressed through expensive gifts and things. But other things are just as good. Like… cards. Or home-made gifts…}

 

“Or kisses behind the barn when you think nobody is paying attention,” Rachel chirped sweetly, grinning madly when Jake and Cassie both blushed deep red and started studying the ceiling intently.

 

“It’s really just an excuse for you to get spoilt, get your way and eat a lot of junk food,” Marco concluded.

 

{Andelites do not have such a thing,} Ax explained needlessly.

 

“Well, then why don’t you just pick a day you like and we’ll pretend that’s your birthday?” Cassie suggested warmly. “We’ll do whatever you like on that day. It can even be today, if you like. I don’t mind sharing.”

 

Ax shook his head seriously. {I cannot take your celebration from you, Cassie. I shall work out my day of birth that is relative to your calendar and then we can have a day of birth party for me then.}

 

“Ax-man it’s called a _birthday_. One simple word: _birthday_.”

 

“And we’re talking away Cassie’s!” Rachel interrupted, shoving soda and crisps into everybody’s hands. “We’ll discuss Ax’s birthday after Cassie’s picnic is over.”

 

“Yes ma’am,” Cassie laughed, saluting her with a piece of liquorish.

 

{May I just make one request so long?}

 

“’Course, Ax. What is it?”

 

Ax turned seriously to his leader, who was struggling to open another packet of sweets. {Prince Jake, I will appreciate your appreciation of me being alive as much as the others. I just request that it not be in the form of a kiss.}

 

Marco spat out all his soda and Rachel seemed to inhale her crisps in her surprise. Cassie and Jake stared at Ax in complete shock while the other three burst into peals of laughter, two of them choking on their food as they went. Jake, blushing beet-red, kept his voice steady as he replied.

 

“I’ll definitely not be kissing you, Ax. Ever. I swear.”

 

Ax, lost to the joke, simply inclined his head. {Thank you, Prince Jake.}

 

Marco collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down his face, and Jake shoved a pillow over his face. “Oh, shut up,” he groused.

 

Even though they got teased mercilessly once Rachel and Marco had enough air to talk, Jake’s fingers stayed curled around Cassie’s under the blanket. Ax saw, but thankfully decided to keep that lesson for another day as it was obviously something that Jake and Cassie didn’t want the others to see. He could not understand why they were doing it in the first place, let alone why they wanted to keep it hidden. It happened on his TV set all the time.

 

Humans were strange.


	8. Oneshortgiraffe – “Superheroes AU” (Well, sort of)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Because I’m eternally lazy everybody got a power based off the seven heroes from Class of the Titans. Except Tobias, whose power was given for obvious reasons.)

One minute Marco was watching Tobias soaring above the battle, calling criticism at him for always using his shapeshifting ability to change into a bird instead of something cooler, and the next he was watching Tobias get shot down. 

“Tobias!” Rachel’s scream was as terrible as the crushing, swooping feeling in Marco’s stomach. 

He spun around at once, finding the horrified blonde a few feet behind him. “Rachel, don’t!” he yelled. 

But it was too late; she’d already started running towards their fallen comrade, turning into a blur before Marco’s eyes as she accelerated past him. He called after her uselessly once again and, to his immense surprise, she suddenly stopped and fell to the ground a little ways in front of him. Her next scream was of frustration. 

“Sorry,” Cassie’s voice said, and Marco turned to find her approaching them, her hand outstretched and her eyes glowing. “I had to. I’ll let you up if you promise you’re not going to run off before we have a plan.” 

Rachel spat out a few choice swearwords along with her acceptance, but Cassie let her up anyway. As soon as she was on her feet, Rachel turned furiously on her best friend. 

“Instead of using your telepathic powers to hold me down, use them to get Tobias back here.” 

Cassie shook her head, her face pained. “You know I can’t do that, Rachel.” 

“Then what good are you!” Rachel snarled at her, not even softening when Cassie flinched as though she had been struck. Her fury got turned on Marco almost at once. “And you. You were supposed to stay with him! What good is your power if you won’t use it to keep others safe? But of course not! As long as your power of luck works for you, you’re totally fine to be selfish.” 

Marco’s stomach twisted in guilt and shame, and he had to look away from Rachel’s flashing eyes. 

{Rachel, luck is not an exact science. You know Marco cannot choose who his powers affect.} 

Ax and Jake had arrived, but all they did was give Rachel new targets. “Well aren’t you just the genius about everything,” she sneered at Ax. “Smarter than even your species. For once use your brains for something useful and get Tobias back. Or are your powers limited to-?”’

“Rachel, that’s enough,” Jake snapped at her, his face hard. 

“Don’t you tell me what to do, Jake. This was your plan, and look where it got us. Some leader. You don’t even have any effing powers! You’re useless.” 

“Rachel!” Marco’s guilt got sidelined as soon as Jake flinched. It had been hard enough convincing him to lead them when it became apparent that he would be the only one of them who would not manifest powers. It had taken ages to get away the mentality that he was useless to them without powers, but Marco knew the doubts still lingered in his best friend’s mind. The worst possible thing that could happen right then was for them to lose Jake. They lost Jake’s leadership, and they were screwed. 

There was suddenly a very unnatural, but very strong, wave of calm washing over Marco, and he knew Cassie was making sure everybody calmed down. Jake continued to stare steadily at his cousin until Rachel suddenly looked away. 

“We’re going to get him back,” Jake said quietly, and relief flooded through Marco at the authority in Jake’s voice. “We just have to stay calm.” 

There was a pointed silence and Rachel’s eyes flickered from one person to another. “Sorry,” she muttered eventually. 

Cassie walked over to her and slipped her arm through Rachel’s for support. It was only when Jake inclined his head at her that Marco realized he’d sent Cassie over. Stupid, creepy, speaking-inside-people’s heads thing… That was the one thing Cassie could do he’d never get used to, he was sure. 

“All right,” Jake said briskly. “The previous mission has been put on the backburner. Our main initiative now is to get Tobias back. Marco, where was he headed, exactly?” 

“Luckily I know the exact place.” He paused. Nobody laughed. “Aww, come on, guys. You’re killing me here.”

“I will be soon,” Rachel threatened in a sweet voice. 

Marco rolled his eyes and turned serious, hoping against hope that he’d be able to grant them enough luck to get everybody out of there alive.


	9. Debonairdexter – “Cake (Cassie/Jake ship)”

The discussion about the Iskoort and the battle between the Ellimist and Crayak continued for another hour, heating up and simmering down in waves as the topic shifted from one angle to another. Eventually, however, life and the exhausting effects of battle caught up to the six of them and, one by one, they each headed to the place they called home. Jake was the last one standing in Cassie’s barn beside her, watching as Rachel and Tobias flew off as close together as was safe. Jake watched them go with a strange expression on his face that Cassie couldn’t fathom, but before she could ask about it he sighed and rubbed his face until it was gone and it was only the fact that she _knew_ him that kept her seeing the tell-tale look in his eyes that said life was not easy or normal.

 

“Need help?”

 

Cassie blinked and followed Jake’s gesture to the few cages that were full. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if he was just trying to be polite or whether he really wanted to stay. A long-ago memory of him forking hay with her chased away the polite refusal.

 

“We’ve been having some problems with the lower fence of the paddock. If you wouldn’t mind coming to check it with me…?”

 

“Sure. No problem.”

 

They walked in silence, her eyes watching the patterns the sunset-splashed clouds were making and his eyes watching the ground as they walked. Maybe it had something to do with those bus rides they spent at each other’s side not saying a word, but the silence between them was comfortable and soothing rather than awkward. They found the fence to be in the same condition that Cassie’s dad had left it in that morning but instead of returning at once they climbed onto the gate and watched the night beginning to wake up.

 

Inevitably, Cassie’s thoughts on that afternoon’s events shifted from Howlers and Iskoort and Yeerks and powerful beings fighting over the galaxy to simply Jake. And somehow – somehow inexplicably – thinking of the human sitting beside her on her fence made her stomach knot and her heart thud much more than the thoughts of the universe-spanning war had. She could still see him in falcon morph disappearing over the edge…

 

“You could have told us,” she blurted out suddenly.

 

“Told you what?” He was frowning at her in confusion, still relaxed and unassuming about the direction her mind had taken.

 

“About the dreams. Crayak. You could have told us you were having nightmares…I could have – We could have helped…”

 

The smile he gave her was not the one she loved so much; it was humourless and twisting. “Cassie, we all have nightmares. And Crayak isn’t somehow scarier than what everybody else dreams about.”

 

His words made sense, but she still shook her head, her heart rebelling at the thought of him keeping quiet because he thought he needed to. But Jake would never agree to tell them all next time he was troubled and keep to his word; she knew this. So, instead, she tried another way to remedy the situation.

 

“Don’t let him be right. Crayak. Don’t let him be in your dreams any more.”

 

Jake’s shoulders slumped slightly and his hands gripped the fence tighter. “I wish it were that easy.”

 

“What about if we make a deal?” He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. “What if we both promise we’ll try our best to dream only good things? You know… blot out all the bad and focus on the good?”

 

“That sounds a lot like what Marco always says,” Jake mused quietly, not really answering her question.

 

And so she pushed. “Well, I think it’s a good idea.” She looked at the ground, fiddling with her fingers as nervousness threatened to clamp her mouth shut. She rushed through the words before she could change her mind. “Promise me you won’t dream of Crayak and I’ll promise I won’t dream of those moments I thought you were dead.”

 

Jake stilled and Cassie held her breath, feeling the blush spread across her face and her stomach twist in knots. Jake slowly slipped off the fence and she watched him, recognizing the signs of awkwardness on him and the desire to speak that he never knew how to follow up.

 

“Okay.” He turned to look at her, and she got that slow, out-of-place smile she wanted. “It’s a deal.”

 

They shook hands solemnly and then both made their excuses to go. Jake, after making sure they could not be seen, started to morph to falcon. And then he suddenly stopped and morphed back to human, turning back to her with something on his face that made her breath hitch.

 

“Just uh… I uh…” He was struggling again, shifting from foot to foot and blushing. “I just need something good that’s strong enough to keep Crayak away,” he explained.

 

She opened her mouth to offer him anything and everything he needed, but before she could speak he was suddenly right in front of her and kissing her. There was none of the terror and the staggering relief of earlier; just Jake and his warmth and the heat of his hands cupped around her cheeks. He turned and morphed and flew away without a word, face flaming, and she was left watching him go with her heart thudding and her stomach doing flips she was sure they’d learnt from Rachel.

 

That night, she dreamt only of Jake.


	10. Randomlyagoldfish – “Pre-54 Tobias and Rachel talk about what their life will be like post-war”

{One would think that you’d be better at this than me,} Rachel taunted.

 

{I _am_ better than you!} Tobias shot back at once.

 

{Then why am I kicking your butt?}

 

{Because I’m being a gentleman and letting you win!}

 

{I’m sorry, I think you’re confusing me with Cassie. I don’t _do_ gentlemanly!}

 

{Don’t blame me when your ego gets knocked, then.}

 

Tobias accelerated, beating his wings frantically as he zipped between the trees that were the obstacles in their dangerous game. Rachel laughed and sped up too, her great eagle body only just missing the trees he could dodge easier. A flash of worry for her recklessness stirred in his gut, but Rachel knew what she was doing and before long she was breaking out of the forest into clear air. Whooping at her victory, she landed on a branch at once.

 

{Ohhhh I kicked your butt, Bird-Brain!}

 

{I _let_ you win, it doesn’t count,} he countered as he landed beside her. His wings were screaming from the flight they’d just taken, and he was sure hers felt no better. {And, anyway, you started before I said ‘go’.}

 

{Prove it,} Rachel sing-songed back, her voice full of laughter. {Looks like you’re not such a great bird after all.}

 

She’d meant it as nothing more than friendly teasing, he knew, but suddenly all the fun and banter washed out of him. Unbidden, the memories of the night of the dance when she’d tried to trick him into staying in human morph resurfaced and something heavy landed in his stomach. A part of him begged him to just let it go; it was a perfect day for flying and Rachel had promised him that the whole day would be devoted to them hanging out. He didn’t want to ruin the few moments they had alone together, that much was for sure, but he also couldn’t help but want to make her _understand_.

 

{I like _being_ a bird, Rachel,} he insisted, fixing his harsh gaze on her sharp eagle eyes. {Can you understand that?}

 

{I like being a bird too,} she countered hotly, stubbornness kicking in so fast he had to admire her for it.

{But you like being a human more.}

 

{Because that’s what we _are_ Tobias. Human beings. Human kids.}

 

She didn’t see because she didn’t _want_ to see. And while it hurt and frustrated him, feeling that sort of fierce love also made him glow inside. Rachel was the first person he could remember who stubbornly refused to believe there wouldn’t be a way for her to be with him forever.

 

{I’m not so sure about the ‘kids’ part,} he said eventually. {By the time this war is over we’ll all be too grown-up for our own good.}

 

{Yeah, we will. But it’ll be _over_. We’ll be able to… slip properly back into our old lives.} He didn’t call her out on her blatant lie. Rachel didn’t want to go back. But she also did; she wanted to return into the skin of the innocent gymnast who had never had the taste and love of blood in her head. {We can still morph, but it’ll only be for fun.} She paused. {Or we won’t morph at all.}

 

He knew that was directed at him. And he tried, for her, to imagine himself stuck human again, growing old and fulfilling the motions while inside him he knew he didn’t belong in human flesh. Or had that feeling just been from his past? If he was human _with Rachel_ could he feel content? They were questions he’d asked himself over and over and over again and he was no closer to an answer than he was to single-handedly defeating the Yeerks.

 

{I don’t need you to promise me you’ll stay human, Tobias,} she said suddenly. {I just…} She sounded smaller and more insecure than he’d ever heard her and it _hurt_ to know he was the cause. {I just need you to promise that you want to try and figure out a way we can be together.}

 

{Of _course_ I want that, Rachel. I promise. No matter what it takes, I promise we’ll figure it out.} Was that what Jake felt every time he promised they’d make it out alive? So much hope and determination to make the word _true_ but also so much doubt and so much crippling fear that they would not make it happen?

 

{Good enough for me.} For now, it would be good enough for him, too.

 

 

**  
**


	11. Unblued – “Fic about Yeerk/host”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: tw: mentions of self-harm, tw: mentions of depression, focus on two OC’s because I tried about seven times writing Chapman or Tom before I gave up like the half-assed writer I am. ALSO: I wrote this based on the assumption that canon states that a Yeerk identifies its gender based on its host. Which is why the Yeerk is called 'she'.

There had never been any real resistance from her host, not even in the beginning. She knew this was just because she’d been given a broken host as punishment for her past failures, but even that sting of bitterness didn’t stop her relief at the lack of a fight. If only everything in this host body was as easy. Yes, she was able to control all the body’s functions without any trouble at all. Yes, she was able to access all the memories without effort on her part. But making _sense_ of the memories was where she hit a frustrating snag. This was especially true of the many memories that surrounded the long, red cuts just above her host’s hands.

 

Finally, after a week, she could not take it any longer and lowered herself to asking directly.

 

{Why did you _do_ that? I’ve looked through all your memories and it makes no logical _sense_.}

 

There was a long stretch of silence, but just before she was about to give up on her host the little human spoke back.

 

_No, it doesn’t make sense. Not even to me. But… it helped._

{It helped nothing,} she snapped back crossly, wondering just how much she was being punished being given _this_ host. {It did not make you more tolerant to pain. It did not rid your body of poison. It did not-}

 

 _It let me handle how I felt_.

 

The interruption cut her short and she waited, sifting through memories in her confusion and her frustrated need to put logic to the situation. The human felt her confusion and matched it with her own, trying to show her what she meant in a way that was… companionable. She’d heard that the voluntary hosts sometimes spoke to their Yeerks as though they were almost of the same rank, but her host was not voluntary, in the strictest sense. The human girl had just been looking for death, and was happy to settle for infestation as a consolation prize.

 

 _It’s just… There was so much inside that I couldn’t feel and it… frustrated me. I wanted to sort it out and… bleed it out of me. And pain… It let me feel something equivalent to what was inside._ She was sent memories again, details that were intimate but not tinged with shyness. As though her host wanted her to dig in and fully understand as much as she did. _Do you get it now?_

 

{No.} Her reply was an admission. {I’ve… never met a species who feels and thinks quite like this…}

 

_Not all humans do. It’s like you said. I’m broken._

 

{Then why did they not fix you? Or at least be rid of you? If a Yeerk even thought to entertain thoughts and feelings like yours…}

 

 _Nobody noticed_.

 

Something else followed those words; a thought that her host did not want to make public but that she dug into anyway.

 

 _Nobody except you_.

 

{Humans are -} She paused. None of the descriptions seemed to fit, any more. Humans were disgusting. Animals. Brutes. Uncompassionate, selfish, backward barbarians who would destroy their world worse than the Yeerks ever could if they were given the chance. But they were also… {So much more than I thought.} Another admission.

 

 _Welcome to planet Earth_.

 

{I will not let this body be affected by what the other humans say or do any more. I will not let you harm my new body because you are diseased. I will squash these feelings you claim you cannot control. Do you understand?}

 

She’d meant it as a threat; a proclamation that she was in charge and would not relinquish her body until she was done using it. Every inch of her host’s life would be under _her_ control. This was usually the part where the host started pleading or threatening or trying to break free. She got none of that this time. Instead, she got two words and a flood of so much genuine feeling she actually felt shocked.

 

 _Thank you_.


	12. Slashersivi – “AU: Fantasy”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plus personal headcanons here: http://shrib.com/jagw  
> Warning: rambly.

Rachel stood stock-still with her head raised proudly as David prowled around her. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up uncomfortably and her first instinct was to turn around and attack that son of a bitch, but she grit her teeth and focused her eyes forward, pretending he wasn’t even there.

 

“I can hear how fast your heart is beating, Rachel,” he taunted from behind her.

 

“It’s because I’m trying _so hard_ not to kill you, David,” she bit back, the half-lie hidden beneath the rage in her voice. “And the only reason I’m trying not to kill you is because I want to know what you’re doing here. It’s either a _really good_ story, or your memory has failed to remind you about what Jake told you he’d do to you if you ever came back.”

 

“Oh, _Jake_ ,” David sighed, trying to go for mocking but unable to hide the hatred in his voice. “I’m not worried about Jake. He’s… all bark and no bite. Come on, Rachel. Laugh. That was funny.”

 

“The only thing _funny_ , David, is that you think you can come back onto _our_ territory without any sort of consequence.”

 

He was in front of her now, so she had the satisfaction of seeing him glance nervously at the clear markings on the trees to her right. She let her sense of smell expand so she caught a whiff of Jake’s scent that lingered along the boundary line and she felt herself relax. They’d gotten rid of David before; now would be no different.

 

“Somebody’s bound to come along soon. And they won’t hesitate running back to Jake to tell him you’re here. It’s a whole week until the full moon, David.”

 

“I don’t need to be fully transformed to be able to fight,” David snarled at her, facing her head on instead of continuing his pacing.

 

Rachel showed him her teeth. “Neither do I, David. It could be new moon and I’d still be able to rip your throat out.”

 

“But _Jake_ would disapprove,” David taunted, and some trepidation stirred in Rachel’s stomach. “Big alpha _Jake_ who calls the shots and makes you listen. Doesn’t it just _kill_ you, Rachel? Every time he orders something you _have_ to obey him. It’s in your blood: the pack obeys the alpha. And doesn’t he make some _stupid_ decisions sometimes? And yet you’re forced to go along to his words like a well-trained _dog_. ‘Stay, Rachel. Don’t do that, Rachel. Heel, Rachel. Sit down, Rachel. Shut up, Rachel. Run here, Rachel. Do that, Rachel.’”

 

She snarled at him, but more because his words were hitting home than because of loyalty. The inability to do anything _but_ obey her cousin was starting to make the frustration and oppression in her heart grow into hate. It wasn’t that Jake ordered anybody around all that often, just that she had grown to be aware of the few times he did and the way it made her mind scream in rage as her body obeyed him without her consent. And, by the way David grinned at her, she knew he could see the truth about her hatred in her face. Shame curled in her stomach, but it was no longer strong enough to drown out the desire to be the one in control of her own actions and her own instincts that Jake labeled _bloodlust_.

 

“I broke free,” David whispered at her, as though offering her the forbidden fruit. “I willed myself to break free of his rule. And all I got was banished. Do you know what it’s been like these past few months? I’ve been more than human, but I’ve had my free will. If I can break free, so can you. I can tell you how I did it, Rachel.”

 

Slowly, the vision of her following David unfolded in her mind. The promise of freedom was a great lure and she was starting to bite, suddenly dizzy with all the possibilities. She’d never let herself think of David’s betrayal as anything less than a betrayal; had never thought she could do the same because the other four were content to follow Jake without question. They all _wanted_ to obey him, so the fact that they _had_ to was of no consequence. They respected him or loved him or both, leaving her the only one screaming for release.

 

“You can really break the alpha’s bond?” she asked quietly.

 

David’s smile widened. “Didn’t you always tell me you can do everything better than me, Rachel? Prove me wrong. Come on. Join me.”

 

“You don’t have any territory,” she told him absently, her mind whirling with conflicting emotions.

 

David shrugged. “I’m planning on _taking_ some.”

 

And, suddenly, Rachel understood exactly what David was trying to do. The vision in her mind fast-forwarded to the inevitable and she saw herself covered in the blood of innocents who had attacked only to try and protect their alpha and their land. The blood turned into the blood of her friends and she watched David kill her cousin.

 

The hatred grew, but it was no longer aimed at Jake. “David. If you don’t get out of here before I count to ten, I am going to _kill_ you. And once you’re out, don’t you ever come _near_ my pack again.”

 

David’s face turned ugly. Rachel began to count. With a snarl and a repetition of the promise that he’d make them all pay, David turned tail and ran back to the no-man’s land before her. She told nobody of what had happened, and played off the hug she gave her cousin as a joke. Jake didn’t believe her, but he trusted her enough not to ask. And that trust mingled together with the collective love and loyalty the pack had to every one of its members, allowed the hate to subside within her. She had her place. And she was grateful for it.


	13. Myrtu – “Best friend stuff (any bff pair)”

Rachel insisted that getting a manicure would make them both feel better after the last nightmare of a battle. Cassie did not agree; even the things that had made her happy before were not working as the blood and terror continued in a never-ending wave around her. So she was sure doing her nails – something she’d always seen as more of an annoyance than anything – would not stop the horrors from playing within her mind.

 

But Rachel was insistent and stubborn at best, and Cassie found herself in the mall, trailing behind her best friend in a state of miserable exhaustion. She found herself remembering when trailing after Rachel in the mall had been exasperating at worst and always tinged with some amusement at how seriously the blonde treated shopping. When had that changed? When had allowing Rachel to talk her into things she found ridiculous turned from something that amused her into something that grated her? Shuffling along tiredly, Cassie realized the war had taken the importance out of everything that was not an attempt to beat the Yeerks. After all, what could stand up to the comparison of the end of all humanity?

 

Looking ahead at Rachel’s face, Cassie realized how fake her best friend’s smile was. Rachel didn’t want to be there any more than she did. She didn’t believe that beauty regiments would help any more than Cassie did. She was at a loss, too, and desperately trying to cling to the times when their lives were the same as the lives of those oblivious people all around them. Rachel _needed_ the old cures to help, so she was stubbornly ignoring the fact that they _didn’t_ help.

 

“Rachel.” Cassie stopped and waited until Rachel did, too. “This isn’t going to work.”

 

“I’m sure they can do _something_ with your fingernails. They’re not _that_ short,” Rachel replied in a falsely cheerful voice.

 

Cassie’s shoulders were slumped in exhaustion and she rubbed at her eyes before fixing Rachel with a look. Slowly, Rachel deflated too. They stood in the middle of the mall, staring at each other as though they were strangers and not the girls who had once linked arms on the playground at age five with the promise that they’d be best friends forever. They’d always been different, but right at that moment Cassie could see how quickly they were both heading to polar opposite ways of coping and living, and it seemed as though a chasm opened up between them.

 

They’d been friends before the war, but right then the war seemed to be the only thing their friendship was tethering on. The only thing they’d done together in almost a year was attend the same classes and fight the same battles.

 

“What do we do now?” Rachel’s question was hollow and searching for answers Cassie didn’t have.

 

Suddenly, inexplicably, Cassie felt herself getting angry. “You’re my best friend, Rachel,” she said hotly. “You’re my best friend and sometimes I don’t understand you _at all_ but that’s the _point_. We give each other different perspectives. You’ve been through _everything_ with me and this… is just no different.”

 

“We’ll have to have a lot of junk food at our sleepovers to get over this, Cassie. This isn’t the highschool senior rejecting me or your favourite horse dying…”

 

“You understand me, because you’re going through it too. Who else will we have when this is all over? Remember fifth grade? We promised never to let a fight make us not friends again. Do you still promise that?”

 

Rachel rolled her eyes, but they looked strangely overbright so Cassie walked forward and linked her arm with Rachel’s. “My place tonight for a sleepover. We’ll talk about superficial things only. And I’ll show you some highly embarrassing baby pictures of Jake we found last week.”

 

Some of the exhaustion seemed to lighten as they turned and headed toward the exit of the mall. “I’d like that.” Realization struck. “I meant the sleepover! Not Jake’s-!”

 

“Don’t try and cover it up now,” Rachel teased, grinning widely. “Besides, I gave him some of you so it’s only fair you take one.”

 

“Rachel. Which pictures of me did you give to Jake.” Rachel began laughing and Cassie’s arm slipped from hers in horror. _“Rachel_. Which pictures…?”

 

Rachel was beaming like the Cheshire Cat. “Oh, I can’t remember right now…”

 

“I’ll _make_ you remember!”

 

They had a tickle war all the way back to Rachel’s house, arriving red-faced and breathless and weak from laughter and feeling five years old again.


	14. Amaronith – “Jake has panic attacks”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly AU: everybody human except Tom lives. Sorry, Tom.

Rachel noticed when he disappeared because she’d been keeping him in her line of sight as her anchor. It was close to impossible to stand still and have polite conversation with family members she does not know while inside she was being clawed apart by her guilt and her horror and the exhaustion that came from not sleeping because of nightmares. Catching sight of Jake through the sea of bodies swathed in black, watching him stand with his back straight and his face passive, gave her the reassurance that her feelings could be held at bay. After all, Jake was dealing with the questions and the press and having to support his grieving mother and devastated father as well as his own grief. As long as she watched him keeping it together, she knew she could do the same.

 

When she could not find him in the crowded hall, her heart leapt into her throat and she started to panic. Excusing herself tightly from her Great-Aunt’s cousin Ruth, Rachel began searching for her cousin, pushing past people rudely as the time wore on and she did not find him. She had been standing at the only door to the hall, and she knew he had not passed her. The only other explanation would be that he’d morphed…

 

Finally, her eyes fell on the hall’s broom closet door. It was open, and she knew who’d been in charge of making sure it was locked. Trying not to draw attention to herself, Rachel slipped into the closet and closed the door firmly behind her, blinking furiously as she tried to adjust her eyes to the dark. She was about to call her cousin’s name when a sound reached her ears that made her hair stand up at once. Breathless, she froze until she heard it again: a gasping, choking noise that should not be made by any living animal.

 

Her fingers scrambled against the rough brick, trying to find the light switch. The tiny room flooded with light and she was greeted with the sight of Jake on the floor, knees pulled up to his chest as his fingers gripped his hair. He was the one making the gasping noise, as though he couldn’t quite get enough air in. Knowing she didn’t have a clue what she was doing, Rachel started forward and knelt by him, placing an arm on his shoulder comfortingly. After all, she’d sobbed in the privacy of her room more than once.

 

But as her fingers closed over his flesh she realized something was wrong. Jake was shaking far too violently and his gasping made him jerk in ways she certainly did not jerk even when she was sobbing. She knelt down with a frown, focusing on Jake’s shaking fingers and wondering what to do.

 

“I can’t…” She winced and wished desperately Cassie were there; she’d know what to say to comfort Jake. But the sentence did not end the way Rachel had expected. Instead of ‘do this’, Jake’s next word was, “breathe. Ra…chel…”

 

Alarm slammed into her and she suddenly found herself pulling Jake’s face toward hers. His eyes were wide with panic and terror she’d never seen on his face before. Instinctively, she gripped his hand.

 

“What happened?”

 

He shook his head, and the tears she’d expected to see started leaking from his eyes. “I don’t… I don’t… I… My heart just started…”

 

She pressed two fingers to his neck and then swore loudly. “Jake, your heartbeat is out of control…” Fear twisted in her gut, and she gripped his hand tighter. “Does it hurt? You might be having…” She couldn’t say ‘heart-attack’. Not while they were in the closet at his brother’s funeral.

 

“I can’t… stop it… Rachel… I just… make it _stop_ …”

 

She balked back for a moment but then slipped down beside him, pulling his bigger frame on top of hers. She’d never held anybody like that before, but somehow her body seemed to know what it was doing. “Shhh. It’s okay. It’s okay. Just breathe. Just breathe. You’ll be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” He was gasping against her, clinging to her hand so hard it hurt, his pulse racing against her chest. “Relax, Jake. There’s nothing here to hurt you… You have to…”

 

She kept speaking nonsense, stroking his hair and trying to discreetly reach to open the door so she could yell for help and be heard. To her utter surprise, however, it seemed to help and Jake’s breathing grew easier. Finally he was able to breathe normally, even though his limbs still shook like he was going into shock.

 

“You still with me?” He nodded and she hit him. “Don’t you _ever_ do that to me again. I thought you were…” She pulled him closer, the strange desire to hug him returning to her once again. “Jake…”

 

“It’s okay.” The response was automatic. He tried to get up but his knees buckled and so he simply leant against the wall. She put her head on his shoulder, content to sit there with him.

 

“Will it really be?”

 

He didn’t answer, but she felt it as he began to cry.

 

**  
**


	15. Onemuseleft – “Jake/Marco as brotp”

Marco stood in the middle of Jake’s room, feeling lost. Jake’s bedroom was his second home, and he could tell anybody who asked exactly what was in which messy pile of junk and the story behind the broken mirror hidden guiltily behind Jake’s shoes. But right then, everything looked foreign and surreal and confusing. He’d been transported to another universe, that was all. This was not his reality.

 

Jake came through the door, his arms full of junkfood and his concentration fully focused on not spilling on himself. He, too, still wore a suit but his fit him whereas Marco’s drowned him. The sleeves, if he unclenched his fists, hung about three inches past his arm. And so he didn’t unclench his fists.

 

(He was starting to believe it was only to keep the sleeves up.)

 

Jake set his horde down and then looked at Marco dumbly; without purpose he was suddenly as lost as his best friend was. Marco desperately wanted to say something like he usually did; some joke that would make serious Jake crack a smile. Maybe if Jake smiled at him again the portal would open and he’d return to reality.

 

“So. Some funeral, huh?” His voice caught at the end and Jake didn’t smile, just continued to look at him.

 

In the days since… _it_ had happened, Marco had found himself being insanely grateful for the fact that Jake hadn’t tried to console him or talk about his feelings or anything as pointless and _frustrating_ as everybody else was trying to do for his father and him. The idiots couldn’t seem to see that _it was not helping_. But right then, standing in the room that felt alien to him, he felt anger and hatred well up inside him. He wanted to punch Jake in the face so he would stop _looking_ at him like that and would instead _do something to make it right_. Or at least tell him what the hell he was supposed to be doing _now_.

 

There wasn’t even a body in that grave…

 

Angrily, Marco spun on his heel and began verbally attacking everything he could, letting out his rage and helpless, helpless grief out on his best friend. He found the things that were most out of place in the room that was supposed to feel like his own and grilled Jake for answers as to why certain things were missing. Jake remained still and calm but could not give satisfactory answers as to where his new comics, most of his casset tapes, his older video games or his prized Death Star model had gone to.

 

Nobody could give him satisfactory answers any more.

 

“Well, then what the hell are we going to do? You lost everything! You have like, five _boring_ games left. You’re so _careless_ , Jake. What are we going to do?”

 

Jake twitched a bit but reigned in his annoyance, reaching down to pull out a packet from under his bed. “Thought we could try this.”

 

With a derisive sniff, Marco tore open the package. And then stopped. In his hands he held the video game he’d been craving since its release had been announced. It was the game he’d walked the pavement weekend after weekend looking for jobs for. It was the game he’d begged and begged for at every opportunity he had. It was the game that was way out of his family’s price range, even before the cost of the funeral hit them hard.

 

He stared at Jake and suddenly realized where all of his best friend’s possessions had disappeared to, and for what purpose. For the first time since he’d been told the news of his mom, Marco began to cry, clutching the game helplessly as he sobbed. Jake moved forward and awkwardly manhandled Marco to his bed, taking the game out of his grip and slipping it in the console as though Marco was not howling his misery into Jake’s pillows. Calmly, Jake began to play the game, leaving his elbow resting on Marco’s stomach – his version of a hand on the shoulder. Marco found himself gripping it, and somehow the warmth finally calmed him down.

 

“You’re playing like a little girl. Let _me_ show you how the true master does it.”

 

Jake handed over the control with an eyeroll and an insult, and suddenly the afternoon could be imagined to be just like any other Saturday afternoon.

 

Marco knew without having to ask that the incident would never be spoken of again.

**  
**


	16. Tygerwolfe – “Rachel/Tobias”

It was a testament to the type of life they were used to that the lateness of the hour was not an issue for either of them. Rachel rolled over when she heard the sound of a bird entering through her window, and gave her sleepy eyes a chance to adjust to the dark until she could make out his form on her desk chair.

 

“Whose turn is it to morph?” she whispered to him, staying curled up beneath her blankets.

 

{Mine,} he replied, hopping onto the floor.

 

For a few moments he was lost from view, and then the morphing sounds started and he was suddenly human and awkward at the foot of her bed. She silently rolled over even more and he crawled under the blankets with her, his fingers pulling on his tshirt as though he was irritated by the feel of it. She grabbed his hand to stop the movement and somehow their fingers got entwined. There was a long moment where they simply stared at each other, and then Tobias began to reacquaint himself with human senses.

 

He brushed his hands through her hair first, fingering the silky strands and splaying them around her head until it looked like she had a golden halo. He pressed his forehead to hers next, inhaling the scent of her shampoo and whatever face wash she used as his hand stroked down her cheek. She closed her eyes at his trailing fingers, gripping his other hand more tightly as his shaking thumb passed over her lips. The temptation to kiss her was too great to ignore, but he limited his lips to brushing only over her forehead.

 

Next it was Rachel’s turn. Her fingers swept through his hair only briefly before she slipped her hand out of his and used both sets of fingers to push the corners of his mouth upwards.

 

“Smiling,” she told him in a whisper, unable to keep her voice serious. Her fingers gently pulled his mouth down. “Frowning. Happy.” She made him smile at her. “Sad. Happy. Grumpy.” This time she pushed his eyebrows down as well. “Happy. Fish.” She smushed his cheeks together.

 

“You are ridiculous,” he grumbled at her, nonetheless pleased at her giggle as he tried to speak through his squashed lips.

 

“Just giving you a crash course.” He looked at her and she frowned, pulling on his face until he looked skeptical instead of just weirdly intense. “There. Like that.”

 

“I don’t critique you when you fly.”

 

“Because I fly beautifully,” she quipped back.

 

He rolled his eyes – that action he actually missed. “Are you done playing with my face, now?”

 

“Almost.” She leaned forward and kissed him boldly on the lips, placing a hand on his shoulder when he jerked back in surprise.

 

He’d never known how to kiss, but Rachel showed him that as well. She was patient but persistent and it didn’t take long for him to stop being worried and to start enjoying it. From somewhere deep within instincts he’d thought he didn’t have kicked in, making his hand curl into her hair and his lips synch with hers.

 

“See?” They broke for air and Rachel’s eyes were bright and shining. “You do remember.”

 

Hesitantly he kissed her forehead again, marveling at his beating heart and the warm rush that was washing through him. Just when he thought he was fully content being a morphing hawk, Rachel came and showed him the perks of being human. The conflict in his mind started again as her hand slipped into his once more.

 

“Next time, I’m going to take you flying in my favourite spot,” he whispered into her ear.

 

She froze for a moment, but then relaxed with a sigh. Her hand stayed in his, but he could tell his words had popped her happy bubble a bit. “Yeah. That’ll be nice.”

 

“It’ll just be me and you,” he pressed, wishing she would understand.

 

This time he got a smile, and she rolled until she was pressed securely to his chest. “That’ll be nice.”

 

He remembered to smile as he kissed her hair.

 

 

**  
**


	17. Chiropterajones – “Forgive them, for they know not what they do”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very probably very AU.

The puppy he’d been cuddling was taken out of his hands, and he looked up in surprise to find the man the humans knew to be his father.

 

“We need to talk,” he said calmly, placing the puppy down with a gentle pat.

 

Erek settled back on his haunches. “What about?”

 

“The Animorphs,” came the simple and straightforward reply.

 

Erek cocked his head to the side, showing his surprise. When no explanation came at once, he pressed for one. “What about them?”

 

“There is some concern about our involvement with them.”

 

“Concern about us helping them? They need our help.”

 

There was a beat of hesitation. “That is the concern.”

 

“I don’t understand.” Frustration was building up inside him and he sat further back, crossing his arms in a very human gesture. “They are the only things defending our home from the Yeerks.”

 

“They are becoming just like the Yeerks.” The reply was cold. “Even those who don’t spend as much time around them as you do can see that.”

 

“They are protecting us and the rest of the humans.”

 

“They are also committing unspeakable acts of violence. And we are aiding them to do that. Some of the Chee… are not comfortable with that. They want me to tell you they refuse to help the Animorphs in any way. They will not be privy to violence.”

 

“So they will not be privy to protection, either?” Erek snapped. He turned around to see a group of Chee standing on the fringes, watching the conversation. Disgust filled him. “They will not help at _all_?”

 

“No. And many are joining their ranks.”

 

“Are you one of them?”

 

More hesitation. “I do not know. They are our protectors, but what they are doing…”

 

“Tell them I will not join them,” Erek snapped. “I continue to help them. And I will appreciate any help I can get.”

 

He expected that to be the end, but his ‘father’ did not rise. “Be careful. They might yet turn on you.”

 

“I am programmed the same way you are!”

“And they know those ways. Just… don’t let them find a loophole.”

 

The memory of the Hork-Bajiir that were killed by his hand and the memory of the terrible battle for the Iskoort raced through him, strong and sharp and impossible to ignore. He turned once again to the group of watching Chee and nodded stiffly to them. They turned as one and began walking away.

 

“Where are they going?”

 

“They’re going to the Yeerk pool to drop off their Yeerks. Then they are going to hide. To make sure they have no part in this.”

 

Horror and shock had Erek turning back to his companion. “What if the Yeerk find a way of letting Visser Three know? This is insane! They will let the Yeerks learn of the Chee’s existence! Worse! They will find out about the Animorphs!”

 

“It is a calculated risk they are willing to take. They want no part in this.”

 

“They already have part in this! This was supposed to be _our_ war, not the war of six _children_. We have been here longer; it should be _our_ responsibility. And yet we pawn it off to them so we don’t have to make any difficult decisions and then we _abandon_ them?”

 

“They want no part in the violence. You know how long we remember for.”

 

Erek stilled and wished he was human enough to close his eyes in grief. “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,” he muttered, hoping the beings the Ellimist had said were greater than even him would hear.

 

“Are you referring to the Chee or the Animorphs?”

 

“You know… I don’t even know any more.”

 

 

 


End file.
